Trap-nest.



Patented may 2'0, i902.A

.W. SCHLIE.

T R A P N E S T. (Application mea mi. 2o, 1902.)

(No Modal.)

is ia Y 'UNITED STATES `WILLAMsci-nim, oncnicaeo, iLLiNoisf, V

n srscrrrcnrron-rrminglparf `or 'Letters raient no;V 700,245, atea-Mayeo,V .1902', 2 `.f Appiicaionned'offinuaiy 20,1992.serrano.90,396.1N0m0ae1a Y B@ itknown that LWILLIAM scrum, a citi-i zenof the United states, and aresident of chi-` cago, county of Cook, ;andState of Illinois,

trated'in theaccornpanying drawings, forn1;` ing a part thereof. Thisinvention relates to is particularly adapt'edforhsein connection recordofeach fowl,-so as to know her laying j ability and the quality of theeggsV secured from her.

By the use of theinvention herein described the desired information Vmayreadilyl be scured, as it will-be known from what hen anyv egg isprocured, thereby enabling an accurate and detailed record to be kept.

(ulenerallyy stated, the invention consists of.

f a movable nest provided with means where-ly by the door of theentrance to the nest-compartment is automatically closed when a hen.goes on the nest and means for indicating through the medium 'of anindicator or alarm the presence of an egg-'in the nest, the arrangementbeing suchf that until the eggis removed the door to the nest isheld inits closed position,` thereby preventing "the hen froinleavng thecompartment in which'thevr nest islo'cated. vWhen, therefore, theattendant' whose attentionhasbeen attracted bythe alarm goes'ip'to takeout theegg,'h`e will see what lien-has layed the saine and mayacquirethen'ecessaryinformation 'forhis' record-book.

The-invention consists in the novel construe-'i tion and combination ofparts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and-'particularlydesignated in theappendyedblairns, andis illus-y trate'd'in the-accompanyingl drawings,l int Which-r' Figure l yis a plan viewof 'thenest, the top; wallof-the compartment being removedf Fig; l

av trap-nest which said side walls. l I. The-bottom 14 of the nestisprovided with -a central opening 22,-be1ow which is supportdetails.

The nest is located in a chamber or com?. f l partment 9, closed bythe'wallsllO, the front' 'only being open anda provided with4afvertiisla vertical'longitudinal section ofthe nest` p* 'auditscompartment, 'a portion of thetop be-V 4ing-broken away andsome ofthepartsbeingv f' shown in full lines." Figs. 4 and 5 relate 'to jcally-sliding door or gate 11`,playing in'grooves y 2 linthe oppositewalls of the nest-chamber. 'Located'in the rear of the compartment 9 is,the nest proper,l which consis'ts of'a;yerti cally-moving frame-13,lguided in itsinovement by the rear and side walls of thfcompartment 9and' having aclownwardly-'txaper-r ing bottom 14.Y Y ,y y

Pivoted to afsupport 15, at the bottom of the compartment Sand-extendinglongitudi- -nally thereof, is a `lever 16, whose outer end is connectedby means of a link 17 to the slid- `ing door 11. The inne-r end of theleverl is designed to betripped by the nest in itsmovement, the relativeweights of the door and nest being such that when a hen goes on the nestther weight-,in addition t'o that of the nest will be snfflcienttoliftthedoor and close the en- 'trance to the compartment 9.

Withthis in view the inner end of the lever I Grisbifur- 'cated orprovided with a pair of arins'lS 18,

which extend to the depending sidewalls 19 f'ofthe'nest-frame 13 and areprovided-'with notches 20`to receive pins 21,21, iixed in the ed acup-shaped pocket or receptacle-*23 by 'means of a depending arm or loop24^fixed ,thereto,and a lever 25, jointed tothe arm and pivotedgon atransverse bar 26, carriedlby the depending side walls 19. Anadjustabflecounterbalance-weight27 is carried by the lever ,525 and isset soas to 4hold the pochet2?. when empty-up against thenest-jbottomlit, but lwhichwill be"ove'rcone' by`tle`weight`-of an eggandpermit the pocket'or receptacle to i 'move downwardly away from theaperture of the bottom 14; The parts 14 and 23 of the nest arepreferably coveredwith some suitable material, such ascotton-battin'gnorwool, forming a soft nest-bottom for the poultry.

The outer side of the rear wall ofthe nestcompartment is provided withan indicating IOO device, which may consist, as shown, of a hinged plate28, loeatedover a slot 29, in which is pivotedat 30 a lever 3l, thelower end of which has a linger or, as shown, a pair of ngers 32,projecting into the chamber 9 below the movable nest and below and atopposite sides of a detent 33, secured to the rear wall thereof.

Pivoted at 3l over the detent and to the frame 13 of the nest is a loop35, having an arm or arms 36, jointed to the loop 24, depending i'romthe egg-pocket 23.

An approach 37 within the nest-compartment leads from the entranceclosed by the door 11to the nest. Vhen a fowl goes on the nest, theframe 13 is lowered by her weight, and through the medium of the lever16 the door 1l is lifted and the entrance closed, the dropping of thenest also carrying the bott-om of the loop 35 below the detent 33 andthe fingers 32 of the lever 31, although it still remains in front ofthe same and away from the rear wall of the compartment.

iVhen now the fowl deposits an egg, the weight thereof overcomes theWeight 27 and the pocket 23 drops, moving,through the medium of the arms36, the arm or loop 35 toward the rear wall of the nest-compartment andbringing the bottom thereof under the fingers 32 of the lever 3l. As thehen leaves the nest and walks onto the platform 37 the frame 13 rises,carrying with it, of course, the loop 35, which soon engages the fingersof the lever 31 and turns the latter on its pivot, thereby throwing thehinged indicator outwardly, the upward movement of the nest continuinguntil the detent 33 is engaged by the bottom of the loop 35, although itis not in any event sufficient to open the door, so as to permit the hento depart. The indicator being in aposition to be observed by the'attendant, he is enabled to see through a doorclosed opening located inthe rear wall of the compartment and provided for the purpose what henhas deposited the egg and to note her number. He then removes the eggfrom the nest. This permits the Weight 27 to lift the pocket 23 to itsnormal position, and the pocket in rising dsengages the loop 35 from thedetent 33, permitting the weight of the gate 11 to overcome the weightof the nest and fall, opening the entrance and a1- lowing the hen toleave, the indicator also dropping back to its original position.

The nests are usually arranged in banks of six or more eompartments,andthere are generally provided two or more banks in each fowl-pen and solocated that the indicator of each nest is toward a common passage-Waybetween the pens, so that the attendant may readily see from aninspection of the indicators in what nests eggs have been laid; but thisrequires where there are a large number of pens the constant presence ofan attendant. In order to avoid this, I preferably employ an electricalarm, which may be arranged as shown in Fig. 3. The batteryand dicatein what bank of nests the alarm is being rung and are preferably locatedin the attendants room or office. In the circuit a connection leads fromthe battery by the wire 3S toa plate 39, secured to the rear wall of thecompartmentil and in such position as to be engaged by the arm or loop35 when the latter actuates the indicator 28 up the loop 35, thencebywire 40 to the pin 21, and out the lever 13iL through the wire 41 andthe alarm to the battery.

It will be understood from the foregoing that when the arm or loop 35 islifted by the partial upward movement of thenest thelower end thereofwill come in contact with the plate 39, thereby closing the circuit andringing the alarm,and that the circuit will again be opened when the eggis removed, the con, tact of the loop with the plate 39 then beingbroken.

I claim as my inventionp 1. In a device of the character described, incombination, a nest-compartment, a movable nest therein, a door closingthe entrance to the nest-compartment, Yconnection between the nest andthe door whereby movement of one will aetuate the other, and meanscontrolled by the egg deposited in the nest for holding the nest whendepressed from rising.

2. In a device ofthe character described, in combina-tion, anest-compartment, a vertically-movable nest therein, a door, connectionbetween the door and the nest, a movable pocket in the bottom of thenest, means actuated by the pocket for holding the nest when depressedfrom rising, an indicator, and means also actuated by the pocket foroperating the indicator.

3. In a device of the character described, in combination, anestcompartment, a Vertically-movable nest therein, a door closing theentrance to the compartment, connection between the door and the nestwhereby movement of one lwill actuate the other, a movable pocket in thebottom of the nest, a detent, and an arm actuated by the movable pocketfor engaging the detent to hold the nest when depressed from rising.

4t. In a device of the character described, in

IOO

combination, a nestcompartment, a vertifrom rising.

5. In a device of the character described, in combination, a nestcompartment, a vertically-movable nest therein, a door adapted to closethe entrance to the compartment, a 1c Ver connected at one end to thedoor and hav ing its opposite end extending in lthe path of the nest, amovablerp'ocketvin the bottom of the nest,a pivoted lever connected tothe pocket, a counterbalance-weight on the lever,

- a pivoted loop actuated by the pocket, an in-l dicator hinged to thewall of the nest-compartment, a lever actuated by the loop for'op-lmeans controlled by the movable nest for' closing the circuit.

7 In a device'of the character described, in.

combination, aV nest compartment, a vertically-movable nest therein, adoor closing the entrance to the nest-compartment, connection vbetweenthe nest and the door whereby move.

ment of one will actuate the other, means for holding the nest whendepressed from rising, a battery, a contact plate, connection betweenthe battery and the plate, connection between the battery and the meansfor holding the nest whereby the circuit is closed when the nest is heldin its' lowered position, and an alarm in the connection.

8. In a device of the character described, in combination, anestcompartment, a vertically-movable nest therein, a door closing theentrance to the nest-compartment,connection between the nest and thedoor whereby movement of one will actuate the other, a movable pocket inthe bottom of the nest, means actuated by the movable pocket for holdingthe nest when depressed from rising, an alarm, an electric circuittherefor, means controlled by the movable pocket for closing thecircuit, and an indicator controlled by the means actuated by themovable pocket.

9. In a device of the character described, in combination, anest-compartment, a vertically-movable nest therein, a door closing theentrance to the nest-compartment,connection between the nest and thedoor whereby movement of one will actuate the other, a movable pocket inthe bottom of the nest, a counterbalance-lever to which the pocket ispivoted, avpivoted arm, connection between the arm and the pocket, anindicator hinged to the wall of the compartment, a lever actuated by thepivoted arm for operating the indicator, a de- NJtentl engaged by thearm for holding the nest when depressed lfrom rising, a battery, aplate.

located at the side of the detent, connection between the battery andthe plate, connection between the battery and the pivoted arm, and

an alarm in one of said connections, the parts being so disposedt-hatwhen `the arm engages the detent the circuit will be closed and thealarmrung.

, l0. Inl a trap-nest, incombination, a nestcompartment, a movable nesttherein, a door closingthe entrance to the nest-compartment, x

connection betweenthe nest and the door whereby movementofone willactuate the other, a movable pocketinthe nest,and meansy controlled bythe pocket'forholding the nest whenmoved from returningto itsr original,position. f

ll. In a trap-nest, ilrcombination, a nest.- 1 compartment, a movablenest therein, a door Y for the nest-compartment, means actuated byl thenest forclosing the door, and means controlled by the egg deposited `in,the nest for.. holding thenest whenmoved frorrrreturningV to itsoriginal position. l .i

l2. In a trap-nest, in combination, a nest,- compartment,avertically-movable nest there-` in, aldoor for the nest-compartment,means actuated bythe nest for closing thel door,

means actuated by the egg deposited inthe rising, an indicator, andmeans controlledby the movabley nest for operating the indicator.

13. VIn a device of the character described,

nest for holding the nest when depressed from IOO the nest for closingthe door, an indicator, an

alarm, and means controlled by thermovable nest for operating theindicator and for closing thecircuitto actuatethe alarm.

l5. In a device of .the character described,

in combinatioma nest-compartment, a nest therein rand having a V movablebott0m,.an alarm, an electric circuit, and avlever controlled by themovable bottom and for closing the circuit to actuate thealarm. s

i WILLIAM SCI-ILLE.

Witnesses: l,

ARTHUR B. SnIBoLD, Louis K. GILLsoN.

